A Revelation
by Mystical Authoress
Summary: Kamiizumi comes to visit Braev once during the two-and-a-half-to-three years between Bravely Default and Bravely Second. During their conversation, the Swordmaster reveals something about the past to his best friend, regarding their whole love triangle situation—something the Grand Marshal never expected. (no tabs for Nobutsuna Kamiizumi)


**Author note: I do not own Bravely Default or Bravely Second.**

 **Several months ago, I stumbled upon an online forum called the** _ **Bravely Kink Meme**_ **by accident while looking up Bravely Default stuff, and one of the SEVERAL anonymous requests on there was the following:** _ **(one-sided) Kamiizumi/Braev.**_ **I decided it would be an interesting challenge, and I finally have my take on it to share with all of you! I do hope you enjoy reading it!**

 **Warning: Takes place inbetween Bravely Default and Bravely Second, spoilers for Bravely Default, some possible spoilers for Bravely Second and the Bravely Default Anthology, onesided KamiizumixBraev, mentioned onesided KamiizumixMahzer, and coming out.**

 **Please also note I have** _ **no clue**_ _ **whatsoever**_ **on what the Crystal Orthodoxy's views are on same-sex relationships, and so what I have mentioned about that in this fic is simply my interpretation. I could be completely wrong, as far as I know.**

* * *

 _A Revelation_

Summary: Kamiizumi comes to visit Braev once during the two-and-a-half-to-three years between Bravely Default and Bravely Second. During their conversation, the Swordmaster reveals something about the past to his best friend, regarding their whole love triangle situation—something the Grand Marshal never expected.

* * *

The arrival of Kamiizumi was a surprise.

Braev knew nothing about it until that morning. Alternis, in the middle of reporting the schedule of appointments he had that day, mentioned that Kamiizumi would visit in the early afternoon. Apparently the man booked about three hours to talk with him. Braev was absolutely _thrilled._

It was long since he saw the Swordmaster. The last he heard or saw of Kamiizumi was that the Swordmaster left Eternia to travel all over Luxendarc and continue honing his skill of swordsmanship. And on top of _that,_ the Black Blades were officially disbanded. It made Braev wonder all this time how the other man was, given how he was presumably travelling alone.

Too bad Edea was busy today, otherwise Braev would have dragged her to see Kamiizumi, too. She did miss the opportunity to spar and train with her master, after all.

"Nobutsuna." Braev welcomed him with a smile, with a one armed hug. "I'm glad to see you back."

"And I am glad to see you, Braev." Kamiizumi had a calm smile, one filled with relief to truly see him again as he returned the embrace. "It's been long since we last talked, since we last saw each other."

"Indeed. Have a seat, Nobutsuna. We truly do have much to talk about."

Time flew by, with the sipping of tea and the various conversations they had with each other. Qada was arrested for his crimes and stripped of his Asterisk, Mahzer fully recovered from her disease, and now Edea was now even _leading_ Eternia's armed forces at times too. Alternis also remained, diligent as ever and pining for Edea like he always did.

Kamiizumi had his own stories to tell; travelling a few times through the Eisen Region and seeing how it was slowly _recovering_ , disbanding the Black Blades entirely and even being attacked by rogues, only to obviously survive.

It was getting down to about the last half-hour of the time they had. Braev didn't want it to end so soon, but he knew there were other appointments to get to, what with getting peace fulfilled with the Crystal Orthodoxy and so on. Kamiizumi seemed to be running out of topics to speak of, anyway, and they'd run out of tea on top of that about an hour ago, and forgot to ask someone to get more.

"I need to tell you something of great importance, Braev."

Kamiizumi's voice was much more serious. Braev looked up from his tea, seeing his best friend's hesitating.

"What might that be, Nobutsuna?"

Kamiizumi's face twitched, but he still said nothing. The Templar frowned.

"Nobutsuna," He managed, "You can tell me anything. I won't judge outright, I promise." At least, he'd _try_ not to. It was hard to change bad habits of impulsively making decisions on something he only heard about one or two seconds ago. Braev knew he _and_ Edea had a lot to learn regarding that.

"It is regarding our past." Kamiizumi finally managed, still hesitating. He closed his eyes, then opened them, making eye contact with Braev. "Remember how we both loved Mahzer?"

Oh. That.

Braev had partially hoped _not_ to approach the subject. After all, the two had had a swordfight that time, except for the fact that it wasn't necessarily over Mahzer as the rumors said.

"It wasn't _just_ Mahzer that I loved during that time, Braev."

Kamiizumi took a deep breath, before speaking with complete sureness that couldn't be mistaken for any jest at all as grey eyes locked with the Grand Marshal's own.

"I loved you, too."

…

Braev nearly choked on his tea.

 _What?_

His best friend had… _loved_ him? He gazed up at Nobutsuna, almost expecting his best friend to laugh a little and tell him he was joking, but…no. He wasn't. There was no smile or anything like that following to indicate a joke.

If anything, Kamiizumi looked ashamed.

Braev placed his cup of tea down on the table in front of him. "Nobutsuna…"

"I wasn't done talking, Braev." Kamiizumi's voice was still calm, despite the look on his face. "But you did hear me correctly, I assure you. I loved both of you _equally_ in the romantic sense. I didn't understand it myself at the time, too. How could it be logically possible? But love…love isn't logical, it's…" He chuckled, leaving the sentence unfinished, but there was something broken in that laughter. Fear.

"You kept this hidden the whole time, for all these years—the fact that you loved me as much as Mahzer, that is." Braev repeated. He still had to register it in his head. He never thought that his own best friend might actually have fallen for him. "I…I can't imagine how hard it was at first when you realized it."

"It was also socially frowned upon due to the Crystal Orthodoxy's influence at the time, too, or at least it _felt_ that way to me. It didn't make it any easier." Kamiizumi pointed out. "I could have easily pursued you just as much as I used to pursue Mahzer, but it would have put _you_ in a bad position, especially since you were _still_ part of the Orthodoxy at the time. I couldn't do that—I didn't want to risk your safety and reputation. So, I only went after her. I loved _her_ just as much as I loved _you_ , and pursuing her was also more socially conventional and safer for all of us. I thought I was making the right choice—I thought it was strange to love two people at once, especially two people of opposite genders. But now I see that by doing that, I was only living a lie to myself. I should have acknowledged that I had those same feelings for you, too."

Braev couldn't imagine how much his friend might have been hurting on the inside because of it. Granted, coming out of the closet seemed increasingly common nowadays, but back then…

"When I saw that you two loved each other so much, I was so happy for you both. _I still am._ I know that you two were meant to be with each other—you showed that to me during our duel, Braev. I don't regret initiating the duel to see how strongly you both felt for each other." A smile presented itself on his face, but it spelled regret, a wonder of what things could have been.

"They say if you really love someone, you'll let them go. That's exactly what I had to do. What I knew I _needed_ to do. I had to let you both go, and _that_ was what I did by bringing you both together. You and Mahzer's happiness…matters to me. Even if it means breaking my own heart to do so. And I am sorry that I never told you until now—I was too afraid to. But this is a truth I know I could not stop myself from telling anymore."

The look on his closest friend's face made the Grand Marshal's heart sink. Clearly, Braev and Mahzer getting together was more saddening to the Swordmaster than he ever let on, given all of this new information. It was clear, though, that he was sincerely happy for the both of them being together, and probably wouldn't want it any other way.

"Does…" Braev thought of his daughter, "Does Edea know about this?"

Kamiizumi shook his head. "No." He admitted. "She has no idea. And she may never know, assuming she never digs too deep into this."

"She will find out eventually. She has her way of doing that." The Grand Marshal frowned.

Kamiizumi simply nodded. "I know."

Silence. Then…

"What will you do if she does find out?"

"Well," Kamiizumi chuckled a bit at that, lips curled up in a weak smile, "I can't deny it, can I? Edea is…she's better at reading me than you think. If she does find out, I _will_ admit the truth to her. No more miscommunication, or lack of communication—I've learned that lesson. I do not know how she will react to this, of course. I cannot read her mind. But whatever the consequences, at least I can live with knowing that I can be true to myself regarding this for once, after all these years."

Before Braev could say anything, there was a knock at the door.

" _Grand Marshal?"_ Alternis was heard speaking. _"Holly will be here soon to speak with you."_

"Tell her to wait," Braev called back, both he and the Swordmaster standing. "I'm just about to wrap things up."

" _Of course."_

As Alternis' footsteps faded away from outside, Kamiizumi looked to his best friend quietly. "I suppose that is my cue to leave."

"Nobutsuna…" Braev knew he couldn't just end it here. It felt unfinished. He needed to say _something!_

"I am aware you have your duties still," The Swordmaster managed, turning to face him completely, "And I have places to go, too."

"Where will you go? Why did you even…" Braev had to spit it out, "Why did you even leave Eternia in the first place?"

Kamiizumi gave him a sad smile.

"It was for the sake of honing my skill in the blade…As well as finding myself again, because I've lost that. At least, part of myself if not all of me. I needed to sort things out with myself. I still do."

The Templar couldn't read his best friend's mind. He wished he could. He wasn't sure what sort of inner turmoil the man could be feeling still, despite it being about one and a half years since the final battle against Ouroboros. Or how much he might still be burdening himself with from the past.

But the past was the past. They could not dwell on it forever. And…

"Nobutsuna."

Braev took a deep breath, taking a few steps forward and placing a hand on his friend's arm, looking into the Swordmaster's eyes, "What you told me just now does not make me view you in a negative light. If anything, what you've told me makes me more appreciative of what you did for me and Mahzer. I can't imagine how hard it was, back then, but…thank you. Thank you for bringing us both together. Thank you for telling me all of this. And...remember, Tsuna, you're family to me just as much as Mahzer, Alternis and Edea are."

Nobutsuna's eyes widened slightly, shock taking over. Clearly, he hadn't expected this from his friend. But then it relaxed into a smile, calm and relieved.

"And you are welcome…Braev."


End file.
